MNF Preview: Eagles-Redskins Spread, Analysis, and Prediction

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Monday Night Football

Philadelphia Eagles (3-2) at Washington Redskins (2-4)

Eagles-Redskins Date: Monday, October 26th
Eagles-Redskins Kickoff Time: 8:30 PM
Eagles-Redskins TV Network: ESPN
Eagles-Redskins Announcers: Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, and Jon Gruden
Eagles-Redskins Point Spread: Eagles -7.5
Eagles-Redskins Over-Under: 37.5
Eagles-Redskins Spread Pick by Jerod: Normally this would look like a pretty exciting game, but the Eagles are coming off of a terrible performance and the Redskins are just…terrible. With so much flux at QB and in their coaching staff, I just can’t see Washington playing well enough against an Eagles team that has to be spitting mad after losing to Oakland. I think this one gets out of hand early and the Eagles roll. Eagles-Redskins free pick: Eagles -7.5

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Eagles-Redskins MNF Preview and Analysis

Where to begin.

You know things are bad in Washington when Redskins fans are castigating the team for cutting undrafted free agent, Chase Daniels, in the preseason. Indeed the QB situation in Washington is irreparable and it appears as though whoever starts for the remainder of the year, whether it be incumbent starter Jason Campbell, or $4 million per year career back-up Todd Collins, they will most likely be a stop-gap for the Redskins’ 2010 first round pick.

For this week at least, Jason Campbell will be thrown back into the fire against one of the best pass rushing teams in the NFL, behind a line that would probably have trouble protecting a young girl from Roman Polanski. It also doesn’t help that Campbell’s confidence, which has been wavering since Daniel Snider forcefully attempted to acquire Jay Cutler, probably received its final blow with his second half benching against the woeful Kansas City Chiefs in a game his team was only losing by 3 points.

Simply put, if Campbell wasn’t good enough for the Chiefs defense, what do you think will happen when he faces the Eagles defense, or an Eagles offense perturbed by their ineptness in a stunning loss at Oakland last week?

Exacerbating the Redskins’ offensive woes is the declining skills of Clinton Portis.

Portis, who was arguably the league MVP through the first 9 weeks of the 2008 season, has rapidly seen his speed and quickness disappear, indicated by his inability to beat linebackers to the outside and his failure to make anyone miss in the open field. To his credit, he is playing hurt and is playing his heart out, but all the effort in the world will not magically make his patch-work offense line open holes, and he is not creating those holes himself.

So once again, it will be upon Campbell to lead the offense through the air–a terrible sign for Redskins fans.

The Redskins do have weapons in the passing game–Santana Moss and Chris Cooley–and the Redskins’ offensive success will depend upon Campbell’s ability to utilize these two weapons. The Redskins would be highly advised to go to Cooley underneath as it was that exact game plan (going to the TE underneath) which catapulted the Oakland Raiders to an improbable upset victory over the Eagles. Cooley will be covered by middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter, who looked horrible last week (and was the proximate cause of the Eagles loss in my opinion). Consequently, the Eagles will probably have to shift over a safety to help cover Cooley which just may give Clinton Portis enough running room to be a factor in this game.

The Redskins defense meanwhile, has been the polar opposite of their offense. They rank 5th in total yards given up, but more relevantly, 3rd in total passing yards surrendered. Given the Eagles heavy reliance upon the passing game, this could pose an inherent problem for Philadelphia.

The additions of Albert Haynesworth and rookie Brian Orakpo have been instrumental in exalting this defense to elite status, as they have helped to provide a steady rush, which has taken the pressure of the Redskins secondary. I expect the Redskins to keep Donovan McNabb on his heels all days and force Andy Reid to beat them with the run. That may not be hard however, given that the Redskins are averaging only 13 PPG this season.

Looking at Philadelphia, the two biggest concerns based on last week’s loss are the horrid play of their offensive line and the even more horrid play of Jeremiah Trotter. Though the Eagles’ offensive line is banged up, it’s pretty clear that the Raiders were only able to abuse McNabb (to the tune of six sacks) because of the first quarter knee injury to starting left tackle Jason Peters. Peters’ back up, King Dunlap, was manhandled by Richard Seymour and the Eagles secret weapon, Brent Celek, was forced to block a little more than normal to make up for Dunlap’s disgraceful effort.

Lucky for Eagles fans however, the “King” has left the building, as Peters will reportedly play after having an MRI reveal only a contusion. Nevertheless, the Redskins revamped defensive line will cause problems all day, and McNabb will have to be considerably more accurate this week than his 48% completion percentage last week.

More importantly, Andy Reid will likely, for one week at least, abandon his beloved pass-heavy game plan and opt for a more conservative approach. This won’t necessarily be a difficult transition however as Brian Westbrook is reportedly the healthiest he has been all season, and he has been a Redskin killer throughout his career. Westbrook’s 141 total yard performance last week proved that he can still be a top tier RB when healthy and given the opportunities. Given his newfound health, expect those opportunities to be abundant.

Defensively, the Eagles have a big question mark at middle linebacker as they found out on Thursday that Omar Gaither will have to undergo season ending surgery to repair a Lisfranc sprain in his foot. Last week’s starter, Jeremiah Trotter, proved that his best days are behind him…way behind him.

The Eagles immediately addressed their MLB dilemma this week by acquiring Will Witherspoon from the Rams in exchange for a meaningless late round draft pick. In the long term, it was a great trade for the Eagles who acquired a talented and athletic middle linebacker who, at 29, is still in the prime of his career. It also is relevant to Monday night’s game as Witherspoon will apparently start at middle linebacker against the Redskins, but considering Witherspoon’s injury last week (bruised tailbone) and his lack of familiarity with the Eagles system, I would expect his reps to be limited, but you never know.

Eagles-Redskins MNF Prediction and Spread Pick

This game has the potential to be on the low scoring side as each team is coming into the game with question marks on the offensive; consequently, I expect the defenses to dominate the game.

That said, the Eagles are the superior team, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Couple in the fact that the Redskins will have a guy calling plays whose last job calling anything were the numbers at “bingo night,” and you can see why there’s little to be optimistic about in Washington.

The Eagles will win this game handily (they will cover), and the Redskins faithful will continue to wonder whether head coach Jim Zorn may actually be an upgrade at quarterback over Jason Campbell.

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* – Jason Campbell photo credit: National Sports Review

* – Brian Westbrook photo credit: All Things Philly Sports

Tags: eagles-redskins analysis, eagles-redskins matchup, eagles-redskins mnf, eagles-redskins pick, eagles-redskins prediction, eagles-redskins spread, eagles-redskins spread pick, mnf, Monday Night Football, Sadler's Smokehouse

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